Harak Rawat may quit UPNL Chairman’s post
Recommends appointment of retired officers of Major-Gen or above rank to the post
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
Minister for Ex-servicemen Welfare Harak Singh Rawat has indicated that he will resign from the post of Chairman of Uttarakhand Purv Sainik Kalyan Nigam Ltd (UPNL) in the coming days.

At a meeting of the Board of Directors yesterday, he recommended a change in the Article of Association of Uttarakhand Purv Sainik Kalyan Nigam Ltd so that an ex-serviceman of the rank of Major-General or above could be appointed its Chairman.

Rawat, under pressure from the BJP, has prepared ground for his honourable exit from the post of Chairman of the UPNL.

The BJP has already filed a writ petition in the Nainital High Court alleging that Rawat as Chairman of the UPNL was holding an office of profit.

Rawat’s proposal for introducing changes in the Article of Association of the UPNL was approved at the Board of Directors meeting.

Henceforth, a retired officer of the rank of Major-General or above would be appointed its Chairman.

It is the second time that changes of this nature have been made in the statute of the nigam.

Earlier, in October last year, changes were made to accommodate Rawat and appoint him Chairman of the UPNL.

Since the inception of the UPNL, ex-servicemen have held the single post of Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD).

Brig Ramesh Bhatia (retd) was the first CMD of the UPNL while Brig AN Bahuguna (retd) was the third CMD.

But after Rawat became Minister for Ex-servicemen Welfare, the Article of Association of the UPNL was amended to split the CMD post into two posts of Chairman and Managing Director.

Now, with the BJP demanding his resignation, Rawat has once again proposed to bring changes in the statute of this Uttarakhand government undertaking, indicating that he would quit the post in the near future.

Sustained pressure from the BJP and petitions filed in the High Court had forced Rawat to resign from the post of Chairman of Uttarakhand Seeds and Terai Development Corporation (TDC).

Now, he would have to quit the posts of Chairman of UPNL and Seed Certification, said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

The BJP’s writ petition on the office-of-profit issue would also decide on the legality of the ordinance that Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had brought about with retrospective effect.

Uttarakhand takes steps for safety of women tourists
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
The state Tourism Department is concerned about the safety of women tourists, especially those who travel from foreign countries. Seeing rape cases happening with women of all age groups throughout the country, the department is concerned about the safety of these female tourists, who venture out alone or in an all-women’s group. The international female tourists, who are usually unaware about the local language and directions, become susceptible and easy prey in wrong hands.

Uttarakhand Additional Secretary, Tourism, Amit Negi, said: “The hotels which register booking of women tourists will now have to inform the Tourism Department as well as area police about the details of women tourists coming there. This is actually mandatory for hotel managements to report under the Foreign Registration Act, but they seldom follow this practice.”

This practice will also be deterrent for those lower-end hotels where hotel staff themselves indulge in sexual harassment of women tourists. Negi said it would be the responsibility of hotel people to ensure the safety of women tourists when they tie up with other service providers, such as cab drivers, tourist guides etc for such tourists. It will also be their duty to inform the female tourists about the culture prevailing in the city, so that they do not catch undue attention for their outfits or mannerism.

He said soon a meeting with officials of different wings of hospitality industry, police as well as Transport Department would be called in this regard. The Transport Department would be also briefed about the course of action in case they find female tourists in any difficulty. They are supposed to attend to such matters on priority and inform either the Tourism or Police Departments. Usually, they overlook such matters. They will also be sensitised to extend help to female tourists with information about the destinations they are heading to.

He said the Transport Department would be asked to fix the cab rates so that they do not fleece tourists. Hotel or cab booking centres will also keep an update about the cab number, distance, rate charged and destination along with the profile of drivers who are hired by the female tourists.

Henceforth, the police, too, will keep the Tourism Department in informed about the matters regarding female tourists. The Tourism Department does not want to leave any impression on foreign female tourists about Uttarakhand being unsafe for female tourists.

108 emergency service to have 35 new ambulances
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
Uttarakhand Minister for Health and Family Welfare Surinder Singh Negi today said the GVK EMRI 108 emergency ambulance service in the state would be strengthened by introducing 35 new ambulances.

Negi congratulated the management and employees of the GVK for rendering services in the state for the last five year. He said the 35 new ambulances would help in lessening the response time that was a bit slow due to the hill terrain. “We have already presented before the ministry concerned the road map for the state and how the service could be improved with the addition of 35 ambulances,” Negi added.

He exhorted the management and the employees of the 108 ambulance service not to rest on their laurels and concentrate on improving it.

On the other hand, Additional Secretary and Director of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) Piyush Singh said the 108 service had helped in increasing institutional deliveries in the state. “There has been a marked decrease in the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the state after the 108 emergency ambulance service became operational,” he said.

Director General, Health and Family Welfare, Dr YC Sharma said the 108 emergency ambulances equipped with advance life support systems had helped in saving precious lives.

The state head of the 108 service said since May 15, 2008, when the service was launched in the state, to May 13, 2013, it had received 7,46,650 calls and attended 5,28,211 emergencies. Of these 507,313 were medical cases and 20,837 police cases and 61 fire incidents.

He said during the last five years besides running ambulances, the emergency boat service was started in Tehri Garhwal and the doli service in Chamoli district to ferry patients as these places did not have road connectivity.

Disciplinary panel ‘not answerable’ to CM, Cong chief
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
The Uttarakhand Congress disciplinary committee has held that it was not answerable either to the Chief Minister or state party president as the committee has been set up on the orders of the party high command in Delhi.

In a statement issued here today, committee member Bhupendra Singh Lingwal said those demanding the dissolution of the state Congress Disciplinary Committee had no right to say so. He said the committee was strict on acts of indiscipline on the part of party workers in the state.

Bhupendra Singh Lingwal’s statement comes at a time when the committee had a day back issued notices to Uttarakhand Congress Cabinet Minister Dinesh Agarwal for sabotaging the party’s Dehradun mayoral candidate's chances in the recently held civic elections. The issuing of notices was resented by Agarwal and his supporters, who had even questioned the credentials of the committee.

Lingwal categorically held that Union Cabinet Minister and Central Congress leader AK Antony was the national chairman of the party’s central disciplinary committee and, thus, the state committee was only answerable to the central committee.

Lingwal denied withdrawal of any notice sent to party leaders allegedly accused of working against the party candidates in the civic elections.

Panwar: Convention called by UKD expelled leaders unconstitutional
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
The President of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Trivender Singh Panwar, held a meeting yesterday with the presidents of all district and city committees to discuss the party convention that is to take place on July 24 and 25.

Panwar said the convention called by the expelled leaders on July 19 in Dehradun was unconstitutional and advised the leaders and members of the party to stay away from it.

He warned that those who participated in the convention would be expelled on account of indiscipline.

To allay the confusion on the matter, he said his party was the real UKD as it had been recognised by the 
Election Commission of India. He also emphasised that only the president of 
the party could call the convention.

Those who have been expelled by the party had no right to convene such a convention. He reiterated that these leaders were doing so to engineer a rift in the party. The party members must be wary of such efforts.

According to sources, the members were seen talking about the confusion prevailing among partymen on the leadership issue.

They were wondering which was the real UKD: the one headed by party patron and seniormost leader Kashi Singh Airy or the one by Trivender Singh Panwar. They were also of the view that if the convention called by Airy managed to get the support of two-third majority, the decisions taken by them would be considered constitutional.

The presidents of the district and city working committees are indecisive on the matter of participating in the convention chaired by Airy. Many of them are not pleased with Panwar, who has been taking autocratic decisions and giving rise to factionalism and splits in the party.

Irate villagers damage SSB property, vehicles
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 15
Villagers attacked a post of the Shahastra Seema Bal (SSB) and damaged its vehicles and property on the Nepal border at Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district today.

The villagers attacked the SSB post after they learnt that two local youths had jumped into the Sharda canal fearing torture at the hands of SSB jawans. The SSB patrol party reportedly tried to stop them but the youths, who were carrying gutka bags illegally, jumped into the Sharda canal, police sources said.

The sources said while one of the youths managed to swim to the banks of the canal the other was feared to be drowned. “Local villagers, mostly women, gathered at the SSB post hearing the news that the youths have jumped into the river canal. They damaged the SSB property and laid siege to the post for eight hours. They dispersed only after senior police officers assured them of action against the erring jawans,” said Hemant Varma, SDM, Khatima.

The villagers alleged that the SSB jawans threw the youths into the river after beating them badly. “The villagers relented only after district administration officers agreed to write a letter to the Central Government for shifting of the SSB post from the area and filing a case of murder against the guilty jawans. One of the youths is still missing and is feared to have drowned in the canal,” said Varma.

Youth leaving hotel industry for doing hospitality courses
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
Owing to odd working hours in the hotel industry, many are opting to leave this glamorous field and joining the routine life of a trainer who trains aspirants for the hospitality industry in institutes. This is what is happening in Hotel Drone these days where a 12-day workshop is being conducted for people who left jobs in hotels and have now joined Delhi-based ILF company, which dabbles with hospitality-related courses for its various branches in the country.

This workshop, training of trainers, is being attended by experts from Kashmir, Mumbai and other parts of the country. The hand-on experience of the experienced hotel staff will certainly make them good trainers.

Instructor Sachin Gaur said the trainers were being trained about how to teach and what to teach the trainees. They are guided about how to make their lectures interesting with varied methods such as power point programmes or creative inputs like colourful posters or by involving the trainees in debates or group discussions. The trainers will then be stationed at different offices of the company where trainees come for coaching. Gaur said the company also assured cent per cent placement for the trainees as well.

Komal Deep Kaur, who earlier worked with Leela Cenpniski in Mumbai, said: “I worked far away in Mumbai. Long hours and changing working shifts were not comfortable for me. This is the reason I opted for a trainer’s job.” She emphasised that it was a challenging job as it involved skills to motivate as well as guide the youngsters for their future profession.

Sajjad, a Kashmiri boy who worked with Hotel Grand in Delhi, said he was very excited that now he would be able to train his fellow young Kashmiri boys about food & beverage skills, which he picked up in his job as F&B manager in the hotel. In his new avatar, he could change lives of many others.

Amit Pal, promising young man from the small town Bajpur, too, left his job with Komal from Leela Hotel in Mumbai and joined the teaching field.

He said, “The way hotels are mushrooming, they need skilled staff, which is not easily available. This is the reason many hotels have opened their own institutes for which they need trainers. In times to come, the trainers are going to be in high demand in the hospitality industry. Their pay scales are good as well. I joined this field at the right time.”

Sewer lines, water problems dicussed
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, May 15
Problems of sewer lines, drinking water and streetlights came up for discussions as newly elected nagar palika parishads of Almora and Pithoragarh towns sat for their meeting with full quorum to discuss issues of their respective towns.

Amid opposition from some members, the first meeting of Nagar Palika Parishad Board in Pithoragarh today cancelled works of worth Rs 4.45 crore approved by the last board of parishad on the ground that the parishad had no budget for these works approved by the last board. “Despite availability of Rs 1.15 crore for construction works with the Nagar Palika Parishad, the last chairman had recommended works worth Rs 4.45 crore, which is beyond our paying capacity. Keeping this fact in mind the board has cancelled the works given by the last chairman,” said Jagat Singh Khati, chairman of Pithoragarh Nagar Palika Parishad.

The first meeting of the board, which began with a stormy temper at the hall of the parishad today, also passed the proposals of regular sanitation and proper street lighting system from different wards.

“We have decided that the alleged irregularities in construction of houses for poor residents of BPL category living in the town be dealt with severely and the under construction remaining number of houses under the scheme be completed soon.” said Khimanand Joshi, executive officer of Nagar Palika Parishad, Pithoragarh.

Governor gives aid to shooting institute
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 15
The Uttarakhand Governor, Dr Aziz Qureshi, today visited the Jaspal Rana Institute of Shooting and Sports at Paundha, on the outskirts of Dehradun. He was welcomed by former minister and founder of the institute Narayan Singh Rana.

The Governor said Uttarakhand had a tradition of valour which the institute was helping to carry forward by promoting the adventure sport of shooting. He gave Rs 51,000 from the Governor’s Discretionary Fund to the institute and said he would recommend to the government that the institute be strengthened by financial support.

Rana told the Governor that till now, 500 shooters had been trained at the institute, besides school and college students. The Governor also interacted with the students at the institute.

Birth anniversary of Shankaracharya celebrated in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

A saint offers milk at the idol of Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya on the latter’s birth anniversary in Haridwar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, May 15
Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti was celebrated here today. Various religious functions were held to mark the occasion.

A special function was organised at Shankaracharya chowk, where saints garlanded the statue of a great Hindi scholar and dharma guru.

Saints also shed light on the life of Adi Shankaracharya. Adi Shankaracharya was born in 788 AD in Kalady district of Kerala.

He wrote the principles of Advait Veda.

Adi Shankaracharya is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, who spread Advait philosophy to the entire world through his works.

He had established four peethams namely Sringeri Math in Karnataka, Kalika Math at Dwaraka, Gujarat, Govardhana Math at Puri in Orissa, and Jyotirmath (Joshimath) at Badrikashrama in Uttarakhand.